Welcome to Austin, Winter

Boston, winter 2008

Winter is wet this year, which is a wonderful thing. Means a good chance we will have blankets of compact, intensely blue bluebonnets in the spring. Ditto for the companion Indian Paintbrushes.Lady Bird's seeds are not dead, only dormant, patiently waiting for rain. Lady Bird's wildflowers connect me  with my good Texas roots. They make Texas significantly more bearable.

Some winters, if we get moisture and milder temperatures, you'll see lots of greenery in one shape or another--the junipers, liveoaks, yaupons are dark, hard green. Mosses are brilliant, so are various bush plants, sage, cacti and succulents. All vibrant green. Until or if a frost comes along.

Other winters, no rain, hard and long freezes, ice storms, all the flora is pruned by mother nature, dead branches everywhere and vigorous spring growth unless the drought persists. Then it's spindly, faded, sparse, pretty much god-awful pitiful.

But that's not what I've been thinking about all day. I think about weather all the time, actually--I drive/bus/ walk to and from work, and drive/walk to and from rehearsals. So I'm out in it. The truth is, even though looking through my last, scarce posts, seeing how many were about people I've lost in the last year, I feel amazingly, vitally, alive. 

Plus the Capricorn stuff. Winter Solstice. That first spark of light. Winter is the Night of the Anticipated Awakening, summer is the Night of the Long Dance. Winter ignites some drive in me to cover ground. Walking, climbing, hiking. New Years Day is to outdoor adventures as the 4th of July is to fireworks. Summer is mostly just freakin' hot. My brain functions best in the 34-70 degree range. I concur with Robert Frost on the ice thing.

And The Christmas stuff. Not Christmas stuff, The Christmas stuff. This winter I am free of old losses that pretty much took the joy out of Christmas for too many years. This winter I sang Messiah for the 39th or 40th time, after taking a 12 year break. It was deeply healing, especially with David Stevens, in Baroque performance style, with the Austin Symphony. A slimmed-down, agile version that showcased the instrumentalists and singers, energized rather than stupefied the audience. Sitting through the complete Messiah can be like sitting through one night of Wagner's Ring (3-4 hours).

Which reminded me of past winter concerts, some with Concert Royale--all baroque instruments, Baroque tuning (slightly lower pitch), creamy-dreamy to sing with. Another endorphin boost. I heart the Baroque.

Savoring all the liquid runs, insanely grateful that I'd walked up and down that pinche hill to and from the Tower long enough to have the breath to pull off those lacy, long sixteenth note passages. Handel didn't slight his altos. Or his violas, or any of the interior voices, vocal or instrumental.

So that's another sign of how winter vitalizes me. I perform best when it's cool. Doing super-hard music is physically demanding. It's kind of amazing to register the mental/physical balance doing music all my life. As a child, it was mentally challenging, physically insignificant. As I age, it's less mentally challenging, but physically difficult (think standing stock still for 30-45 minutes at a time, holding a folder heavy with music, doing mad deep-breathing and sound production, while consummately focusing on a director's every demand).

Lately, the mental/physical has fused into a transcendental state. By now, I have all the major works memorized (that happens if you perform a lot), and I can dispense with a lot of little things that can distract you--the printed music, for one thing. You can attend to tuning, to how your line weaves above and frequently below the tenor line. How you and a soprano become a pair of birds, sweetly swooping and trilling in parallel major thirds (think the duet from Lakme').

Brings us right back around to Rocky Woo-Woo Land. "Support from your diaphragm" becomes "use your core" in today's vernacular. That's the music lesson for today, folks!

Bach and the national depression

I recently read a psychologist's observation that the nation of Iraq is suffering from PTSD. I agree, except for one thing--no "post" about it, it's still in a survival state.

I do believe, however, that America is sliding into PTSD from the last 8 years, the economy, the sinking ship of health care, and murder by proxy. Last weekend I felt a distinct shift in the O Fortuna. Velut luna. Status variabilis. It felt a lot like grief, loss. The old American dream lies in little plasticky pieces, shiny but devoid of any humanity. The almighty dollar sucked us all down the toilet. We forgot how to live in harmony with the earth and each other.

We are all going to have to learn to get in touch with our selves again, ask some hard questions, before we can reach each other. We have to put people first again. We've become so cocooned in stuff, stuff made up of the earth's dwindling resources. We don't have to live as voracious consumers. Geez, I'm beginning to repeat my old rhetoric from the 60's and 70's.

Actually, there are solid analogies. Regardless of whether one equates the Iraq and Viet Nam wars, the effects on America have been even more devastating. The attitudes are the same from some of the military--not all, thank goodness. Arrogant slaughter for financial gain. Purely and simply.

I wish everyone in this country could see what life is like outside the borders of the USA. There's no excuse for not, really, if the media would practice real journalism.

I heard Molly Ivins speak not long before she died, and she talked about the death of real American journalism, especially the print variety, newspapers, specifically. One of her points described how today's newspapers have lost touch with the local, the community. The reporting is superficial, and narrows rather than expands knowledge. Not to say there aren't brilliant writers out there, but what is thoughtful and rational and workable is overlooked for the sensational, the froth.

On the other hand, I had a fabulous conversation with a friend about Bach and his music. My friend attended the Bach Cantata Project at the Blanton, and commented on the use of biblical text throughout. It gave me an opportunity to describe the cantata as a form, which is easily translatable to a computer geek. It was mind-blowing to think of it in that context, after a lifetime of relating to Bach in a distinctly non-technological way, not counting the early synthesizered "Switched On Bach" of the 60's. Sensual to the core, at the same time appreciating the beauty of the exquisite interface between sound and mathematics.

It is only fitting that I was able to visit his last musical posting and gravesite--St. Thomaskirche in Leipzig--in my own elderhood. Looking back for decades of being completely surrounded by Bach, something for all of my musical capabilities. Keyboard, vocal, instrumental, monumental, playful, serious, solo, full orchestra and chorus and everything in between--he wrote something for every facet, every mood. Even though they were different periods, I think of Bach as an extension, an evolution of Shakespeare.

For words are music, too. Human sound lifted up. Music, particularly Bach's, physically resonates with the human body, making it an instrument. Which reminds me. AVAE's first concert is November 13 in Austin, November 15 at Round Top.

I had a teacher when I was in my 30's who said music was mathematics in technicolor. Now that I'm in my 60's, I have a deeper understanding of what she meant.

So long to The Good Musician

This is one of the many altars, or groupings of art in St. Vitus basilica in Prague. This piece is solid silver, one of a grouping of five. It's quite stunning, as virtually everything else is gold.

The Good Musician blog will retire on July 31. It's been an interesting four months, I've certainly learned a good deal about the world of blogging for pay. I loved the writing discipline, and at the same time had a great lesson in my personal boundaries and commitments. b5media are the greatest--supportive, congenial, and their admin is superb. I hope to work with them again.

Freakin' hard work. My lovely readers are familiar with my freewheeling style, and I believe that's when I write my best. Or at least my most satisfying. Not to say that I am not quite proud of my work as TGM, I was in heaven writing about music. Fried Okra Productions and the people who pop in and say hi, and share fascinating ideas and stories, is home. I missed it.

Of course, that's all very self-serving. It's kinda like my relationship with my flute and my voice. I got my first flute at age seven, a Bundy nickle plated wonderful shiny music-making real instrument. Of my own. To play as much as I wanted. A black case with blue velvet lining. A St. Louis music store sticker nestled by the cleaning rod.

I've sung all my life, except for a period from age 12 to 18, after a grumpy church choir director made a snide remark about me being too sick to sing, but singing anyway, and lousing it up, sneezing, head aching, NOT wanting to be there. Withered my little feelings so's I didn't sing again til college, and by that time I was heavy into the instrumental groove.

For a very long time, through grad school and as a performing musician. Then I got tired of being so focused on going to the edge of flute playing. I just wanted to sing for a while. So that's what I've done. Taken lessons, always a member of the muni chorus, paid section leader, contractor, ringer, et al for several decades now, and I like a chamber chorus to keep my chops up. Or just any singing, wherever--Ballet Austin, ASO, Festival at Round Top, Georgetown Festival of the Arts.

Over time, I've learned to supplement singing by combining it with arts management. Dashing up on stage at the last second after hauling a portativ organ in my station wagon for 80 miles, my entire wardrobe was black so that I didn't have to worry about changing into concert gear in addition to putting the show up.

So where was I? Comparing TGM and FOP. Different instruments. Exceedingly cool at different times. So what do I do? My head is into repertoire at the moment, working with a group of musicians and admins to set programs for this year, while supporting the group during the transition in conductors. Listening to scads of music, going through old programs, awash in fond memories. There's so much good music out there. You might think about searching out the chorus in your town and having a listen.

Music for your every mood!

Start your week with music.

b5media's Music Channel offers 38 tracks to get you through your Monday.

The selection is vast. The tracks are ones we feel you should hear. Discover music and let us know what we should be checking out. Have fun and welcome to a great selection of music.

Every Monday should start off with some quality Jazz. The Jazz and Blues Lounge is our online authority. Keeping with the jazz era The Good Musician gives us two of the greatest of all time. Finish your third cup of coffee and bring it upbeat a bit with either Pop and listen to some new Nelly & Fergie at Pop Music Scene or download two free metal tracks at Metal Martyr.

From the world of four global music meccas....Jet-set half way around the globe for two must have Aussie tracks at Oz Music Scene. Heading back to the new music mecca of America, Big Apple Music Scene gives you two tracks that should be on every iPod. Down to one of America's strongest indie cultures, Austin Sound Check gives us two tracks that you need to hear. Toronto is a bustling and exciting music scene and Toronto Unplugged gives us two solid, solid tunes.

Our online music resource Our Digital Music lets us in on two key tracks to download. Anything with Dylan is good, but this Rock Dose is the best. Christian Music Fan outlines two tracks within the Christian genre. Ear Sucker always features a wide variety of quality music and these tracks are no different.

After your coffee, enjoy a martini and crank up some good ol' fashioned crooning by blasting these two gems from Crooner Culture. No day is complete without some top notch classic rock - head to the Rock Relic for your rock fix. After the magical mystery ride in rock, float over to New Age Vibe for two favorites. New Age to Industrial Addiction for great cuts from that growing genre. She Plays Music always has the inside track of women in music - here are two solid recommendations. Punk Rock is alive and well! News in Punk features two outstanding punk tracks. Add a little Hippie to your day with these diamonds at Hippie Sounds.

Hope you enjoy the wide array of selections!